The Wolf
by Two-Ways-Down-None-To-Go
Summary: Sometimes the wolf can become human in order to mate. His sole purpose in life is to create an army of wolves like him. He never stays with his mate long, for he has thousands. But when he meets a bubbly redhead, he's found a new reason to stay. She changes him and he likes it. But his past will threaten them. It always does... (Cade friendship)
1. Kitty Says

"**Chapter 1 – Kitty Says"**

I've wanted a lot of things in my life. I've wanted my parents not to get a divorce; I've wanted my brother to stop doing crazy things; I've wanted to not be bi-polar. I want my hair to be red, and I want my voice to be loud. I want to be friendly, to stand out in the crowd. Oh look, I rhymed haha!

I used to watch this movie with my mom, _Armageddon_ I think, when I was younger; it's her favorite. Then I decided I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. After a while I decided I wanted to be a doctor because my mommy loved the doctors on her TV shows; I've always wanted her to love me.

In middle school I wanted to be a racecar driver because my brother loved fast cars. We used to play cars all the time and it was so fun! I used to play dolls with my sister, too. I wanted to be a Barbie doll, but she said I couldn't be that because I was too short; that's why I wear high heels.

When I started going to Hollywood Arts, I wanted to be a ballerina. They were such good dancers and I wanted to be graceful like them. I also wanted my red hair to look really cute in a little bun on my head, haha! Then I wanted to be one of those dancers my daddy paid to see every other night before he left Mommy. He used to spend a lot of our money there because he said he loved those dancers. I wanted Mommy to be one of those dancers too because I wanted Daddy to love her again. Then I decided I wanted to be an actress like some of my friends. I'm pretty sure I want to be a singer; my friends say I've got a really great voice and I should put it to good use. Singing is really fun, haha!

But what I really want the most is to be _happy_.

I'm always happy with my mom...well I used to be. Before Mommy and Daddy got separated—because they aren't divorced yet—she was so fun! She used to take me out every day after school for ice cream. Then we would go to the mall and she would me a new book to read. She used to say reading is good for me because it helps me learn more words. She used to buy me good books and sometimes she would buy me books Jade would like.

But that was before Daddy left…

He took all our money, my ten-year old little sister Demi, and all of Mommy's fun.

Now all Mommy does is sit at home watching _Days of Our Lives_ and eating ice cream by herself. She doesn't cook anymore like she used to and she doesn't even clean the house. Sometimes I don't even think she leaves the couch! When I get home, I clean whatever's dirty and my oldest brother Tony cooks the food. He really likes cooking, that's why he volunteered to be our cook! He learns from watching TV all the time. He's got his own TV in his room and he spends a lot of time in there since Mommy uses the TV in the den.

My other brother, Vince, he's three years younger than Tony and he's the one who goes out and works. He works two jobs and makes the money so we can keep our house. He works as a dishwasher at Mommy's favorite restaurant and at the skating rink. Sometimes we all get in for free when Bryce is in charge. He even taught me how to skate by myself last year!

My sister, Bristol, she's a year older than me and she works too but she's still in high school with me so she can only work part-time. She works at the book store Mommy used to take me to. Sometimes she even brings me home a book! She normally blacks out the barcodes with a really fat sharpie marker so she can get them out of the store. Most of the time she gets me kiddy books because those are the only ones she can grab without someone noticing; that section of the store doesn't have a lot of cameras so it's easy to grab a book. It also gets really odd after a while when the cameras keep filming Bristol snatch a book and take it to the kiddy section. After she stole three books, her manager almost fired her so now all she can get is kiddy books and coloring books.

I love the Dr. Seuss books!

Sometimes when I can, I work at The Baby Store. I love it there! There are so many cute clothes and all the mommies come in there with their babies or their pregnant bellies. Sometimes I see girls my age in there with pregnant bellies. I want a baby! I want to buy my baby cute little clothes and hold it and play with it and keep it safe. I want my baby to love me. Oh wait…I don't have a baby haha! But I really, really want one.

It's definitely hard since Daddy's gone.

We had to sell our old house because Daddy didn't want to help pay for it anymore and Mommy quit her job that paid _a lot_ of money; she used to be a fashion designer and it made her really happy. But Daddy took her fun and she didn't want to be happy anymore. I really loved that house; my family grew up in it. Now we live a little bit outside LA and our house is barely big enough for the five of us.

But we can't always have everything we want…

It's hard without Daddy, but I've got my friends and my brothers and sister to make me happy.

I'll always be happy.

Nothing can take that away.


	2. Amish Girl

The first chapter was the prologue. This chapter was inspired by a movie I watched recently. This story came to me in a dream, so I hope you like it. It's going to start off a little slow, but that's building it up. The next chapter will be another build up chapter but we'll get to the main story soon. Please leave a review telling me if you like this story and want me to continue! I meant to put this on the first chapter but I forgot. Oh, I also re-uploaded The Curse of Six because it needed to be redone. So if you read that, go back and reread it because I added and changed a lot of things. Anyway, I hope you like this story and I guess leave in your review what you want to see in this story. I might put it in here!

Oh, I know it seems like I've forgotten my other two Victorious stories, but I haven't. I'm just in writer's block mode.

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"**Chapter 2 – Amish Girl" **

We'll move away from our protagonist for a bit because this story won't start with her; it'll end with her, though, don't worry.

Our story's gonna pick up in LA, but it starts out in rural North Carolina almost a year ago, a big stretch don't you think? Well it starts with a little Amish girl, roughly fourteen maybe fifteen. She wakes up in her bed to the sound of screaming out in the field. Slowly, she rises out of bed and—after making sure her night gown is straight—heads downstairs out to the farm to see the commotion. Once there, she sees her whole town has gathered by the waters.

"What's happening?" she asks quietly of the person nearest her. A girl maybe a year older than her with the same blonde hair turns back to her. "Oh Sarah," she breathes in relief as she rushes the younger girl into her arms. "You had me worried when I didn't see you with the others!" Slowly, Sarah hugs the girl back. "What is this gathering, Katherine?" she questions. "Why has the town gathered at the river?"

Katherine keeps her hold on Sarah. "Lady Winsor found a child—a newborn—in the reeds," she explains. "The baby's umbilical cord was still attached when Lady Winsor found it, and she called her son to travel into town to find a phone." Sarah gasps and covers her mouth. "Whose child is it?" she inquires. Katherine shrugs as she finally pulls from Sarah. "No one knows yet," she breathes. "We're waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Maybe they can tell us whose baby it was."

Sarah gasps loudly, causing a few people to look back at her. She grabs at her stomach and lets out a loud scream of pain as she doubles over. More people start to look at her, especially as the blood begins to stain the front of her nightgown. She clings to Katherine's arm, digging her nails into Katherine's sleeve as she cries out in pain.

"Sarah?" Katherine cries. "What's wrong?" The sound of shoving and small cries come from the crowd as Sarah's mother, Lady Mayfield, races to her daughter. "Sarah?" she calls out. "Sarah, what's wrong?"

She reaches her daughter just as poor Sarah falls out in Katherine's arms.

_**~*Let's go two towns over*~**_

The paramedics arrived maybe five minutes after Sarah had fallen out and—after searching for the supposed mother of the ill-fated newborn—they loaded an unconscious Sarah and her mother into the back of the ambulance to take her to the nearest hospital. The Amish aren't big on life-saving technology, but you should've known that, shouldn't you?

"What's happened to her?" Lady Mayfield whispers to a doctor as she sits by her daughter's hospital bed and holds her hand. Sarah's been out for at least half an hour now. The doctor looks at his clipboard, scanning Sarah's file. "Did you know your daughter was pregnant?" he asks without answering her question. Lady Mayfield gasps. "Why, certainly you lie," she hisses with angered eyes. "My daughter has never lain with a man in all her life, nor will she do so until her wedding night."

The doctor frowns. "I'm afraid to tell you that your daughter was in fact pregnant," he informs her. "Her body shows that she'd given birth maybe four or five hours ago. There were no traces of her umbilical cord inside her body, so she must have cut it herself."

"Mama," Sarah calls out weakly. "I'm so sorry…" Lady Mayfield looks down to her daughter and grabs her hand tightly. "There's nothing to be sorry for, dear," she whispers gently. Slowly, Sarah shakes her head. "Yes there is," she denies. "I lied to you as well as the town. I…I was pregnant, and I-I didn't tell anyone." Tears come to her eyes as she takes in shuttering sobs. "The baby was dead when he came out, so I...I thought I could hide him and maybe one of the animals would get him. Then n-no one w-would have to know. I'm so ashamed, Mama. I'm so sorry…"

Lady Mayfield gently rubs Sarah's hand with her eyes closed; she doesn't know how to feel about this. She knows it's a good thing her husband is no longer alive, otherwise he would make it his personal mission to punish Sarah until he dies…or she dies…whichever came first. "It is alright, sweetheart," she breathes. "This will be our secret; we'll say you got real sick, but you're all better now. We'll let them say the baby belonged to someone else, that it was carried in by a stray animal." With a small sniffle, Lady Mayfield looks to the doctor. "Can I take my daughter home now?"

The doctor nods. "We'll just need her to stay here for a few more hours while we run some tests first," he replies. He frowns somberly, holding the clipboard tight in his hands. "And I'm afraid I have bad news..."

Lady Mayfield stands, keeping her hand tight on her daughter's. "What do you mean?" she questions. "Is everything alright?" The doctor nods his blonde head to the side instead of answering. "Can I speak with you over there for a moment?" he suggests. Reluctantly, Lady Mayfield kisses her daughter's hand with small words of reassurance and follows the doctor near the window at the other end of the room.

"What is wrong with my daughter?" she demands with her arms crossed. Her voice is tired, annoyed. The doctor sighs. "The baby was stillborn like your daughter said," he begins, "But I'm afraid it's more than that. I'm afraid your daughter isn't meant to have children." Lady Mayfield gasps and covers her mouth, shaking her head. The doctor nods slowly. "It's a miracle the baby lasted as long as he did," the doctor adds.

Lady Mayfield stifles a sob as tears fall from her tired brown eyes.

The wolf howls sadly in the distance.

He has lost another mate…


	3. Little Texan

I did really good yesterday; I wrote three whole chapters for this story. My goal for this story is to keep each chapter short, to give it a 1,000 word limit per chapter. The next chapter is over 1,000 words, but I know all of you will love it because it's fun! This is the last filler chapter, I swear! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!

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"**Chapter 3 – Little Texan" **

Fooled ya!

You know, there aren't many wolves in North Carolina; I don't think there are any at all. There _are_ some in Texas, I think…

Let's not deal with the technical details right now, though. They give me headaches.

San Antonio, Texas is a bigger city full of people, and people, and people galore. It's more common in San Antonio—and various other parts of the US—for teenage girls to get pregnant. Maria DuPont is seventeen and pregnant, but she doesn't know it yet. She's only eight weeks pregnant but she thinks she's just getting fat. Her mother—Alicia DuPont—got pregnant with Maria when she was seventeen. Unlike Maria, Alicia wasn't in love with the father of her baby. Antonio Del Toro was just a little Mexican boy looking for some fun with the new French girl in town. Alicia didn't speak much English and neither did Antonio, so neither one knew what to say when Alicia got pregnant. She—

Oh wait, this isn't about Alicia.

Anyway, Maria DuPont is pregnant but since she speaks very fluent English, she's focusing on her studies. When she hears the news that she's pregnant, she might just keep the baby, but she might get rid of it so she can focus on school. Whatever her boyfriend—Bobby Trejo—decides he wants to do with the baby, Maria will do it. She'd give him the world if he asked for it; she loves him with all her heart.

Maria's downstairs working on her Chemistry when she hears a tapping on the window of the kitchen door. She looks up with a wide smile and runs to see Bobby with a small squeal. She opens the door and jumps in his arms, wrapping them around his neck and laughing slightly. He wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her deeply for a moment like he _actually_ loves her.

"I didn't think you'd make it," she says once she pulls away from him. Bobby simply shrugs with a small smirk. Bobby doesn't speak and he refuses to learn sign language. "Is your mom mad you're still seeing me?" she asks. Bobby keeps his smirk and nods before leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips. He's lying, but Maria wouldn't care even if she knew the truth behind his lies. As they kiss, Maria puts his hand on her stomach.

Looks like I lied to you, because she's got a surprise!

"We're having a baby," she beams in a whisper in his ear. Bobby lets out a small noise of happiness and wraps his arms around her waist. He kisses her neck, breathing softly on her skin. He holds her close and she nuzzles her head into his shoulder. "I love you, Bobby," she mumbles into his chest. He makes a noise of approval into her hair; it's his way of saying he loves her back.

She doesn't need words to believe his lies.

A sharp pain in her stomach, like a searing hot knife plunging into her, pushes Maria away from Bobby. She screams out and doubles over in pain, clenching her stomach tightly and clinging to the side of the kitchen counter for support. Bobby stares down in shock as Maria continues to scream. He holds out shaking hands to her, making small noises of terror. He's seen this before, but it always scares him every time it happens.

He hoped it wouldn't happen with Maria…

Alicia is down the stairs in seconds, her bare feet loudly pounding on the hardwood. "Maria!" she calls out. She sees a terrified Bobby standing near her daughter and glares at him. "What did you do to her?" she screams, about to lunge for him. Maria cries out in pain once more and finally falls to her knees. "H-he didn't d-do anything!" she forces out as her body starts to heave. She opens her mouth to say something else, but the pain sends her screaming to the floor.

Alicia races to the phone and quickly dials 911; the paramedics are there in ten minutes.

_**~*And away we go*~**_

Ms. DuPont forces Bobby to stay behind while Maria is rushed to the hospital. As Maria sleeps connected to tubes and wires, the doctor pulls Ms. DuPont aside to have a word with her.

"How is she, Dr. Feldman?" Ms. DuPont questions somberly. The doctor sighs as she looks at her clipboard with Maria's file. "Your daughter's going to be fine, Ms. DuPont," she starts, "But I'm afraid she had a miscarriage." Ms. DuPont gasps and holds her hand over her heart. "I…I didn't even know she was pregnant," she whispers to herself.

"I'm afraid that isn't all," Dr. Feldman continues. Ms. DuPont sniffles quietly. "I don't know if I can take anymore," she breathes. Dr. Feldman gestures to the nearby chair. "You may want to sit down then," she announces. Ms. DuPont shakes her head. "I'll deal," she says. Dr. Feldman nods slightly. "Alright then," she says calmly.

She looks into Ms. DuPont's eyes. "There's a complication with your daughter's reproductive system," she announces. "She's lucky she lost the baby early on in the pregnancy. Had the baby come to term or near it, your daughter could have died. For her safety, I advise you to keep her on contraceptives and monitor her sexual activity for the time being. I know it might be embarrassing for both you and Maria, but her life depends on it. There's a surgery that could potentially fix the damage, but until then another pregnancy could potentially _kill_ your daughter."

Ms. DuPont staggers backwards with a small, terrified sob and turns away. Having heard everything, Maria rolls over on her bed away from her mother and lets a small tear fall from her eye. She knew kids would make Bobby happy, and now she can't have them. She feels hollow now. What can she do…?

Outside, the wolf howls in desperation and defeat.

He has lost yet another mate.


	4. Scream Queen

My goal with this story is to keep each chapter at 1,000 words. This chapter is a little longer, so that threw me off a bit. I fixed it in my next chapter though so the word count will be somewhat evened out. This is a really fun chapter, so I really hope you like it!

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"**Chapter 4 – Scream Queen"**

We're almost there, children.

I really want some brownies though…

Anyway, now we're travelling to LA, _whoosh_!

But we've gotta make another detour, sorry. We can't get to the protagonist yet; we've got to talk about one of her friends. You know Jade West, right? Yeah, well you know she and her hot little boyfriend broke up; that's right, Beck and Jade are no longer and item.

But that was five months ago.

Four months ago Jade met another boy who was just as tall as Beck with hair as dark and as long as Beck's. His eyes had a yellow tint to them and Jade wasn't sure what color they actually were. But those eyes caught Jade and she fell into his trap. After a few weeks of talking—well, Jade talking to him since he didn't speak—they wound up rolling around a few times in the sack.

She'd stopped taking her birth control the week she and Beck broke up. She wasn't expecting to sleep with anyone after Beck, but he said he didn't want kids and Jade really wanted to sleep with Beck. She told herself she wasn't going to sleep with anyone, but sometimes plans change.

Three months ago, Jade took a little test, and that little test came out positive. She decided not to tell anyone, but you can only hide a baby bump for so long. She hasn't even told Cat of all people, her best friend!

But the little redhead's running up to her now, so it's time to come clean.

"Jade!" Cat screams as her heels click furiously down the hall. "Jade! Jade! Jade!" The Goth stands at her locker with a scowl and pretends to rummage through it. Cat jumps up to her friend and bumps her gently. Jade's head snaps to Cat. "What?" she screams, startling the little redhead. Cat squeaks in fear and turns her head from Jade with small sobs. Realizing what she's done, Jade sighs and gently places her hand on Cat's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Cat," she apologizes softly so no one can hear. "I'm just…a little tired okay?" Cat instantly stops crying and turns to Jade with a big smile. "Kay, kay!" she exclaims.

She grabs Jade by the wrist. "Come on, come on!" she exclaims. "It's lunch time!" She laughs a deep, hearty noise that Jade normally hates, but the taller girl says nothing as the little one runs with her down and out to the Asphalt Café. By the time they get there, everyone else is already at the table. It's only the first day back at school after summer vacation and everyone's already falling into their old rhythms.

Cat slows down and walks slowly with Jade the rest of the distance to the table. "You never told me what you did this summer!" Cat cries out. Jade rolls her eyes. "I told you I didn't want to talk about it, Cat," Jade reminds her as she tries not to sound annoyed. Cat sighs. "But I wanna know!" she exclaims. Soon people start to turn and look at her. Jade gently nudges her. "Be quiet," she hisses.

When the people turn away, she sighs. "If you _must_ know," she begins, "I met a guy the month before school let out and we hung out all summer." Cat squeals in excitement. "A guy?" she repeats as they finally reach the table. "What about a guy?" Robbie questions eagerly, desperate to be part of the conversation. "Jade met a guy!" Cat says happily. Jade notices Beck's face drop slightly, but he says nothing.

"She said she spent the summer with him!" Cat adds.

"Oh, like that song from that movie!" Tori adds jubilantly with a laugh.

André laughs too. "Yeah, _Summer Nights_ or somethin," he joins in. "What was that movie called?"

"Oh…um…_Grease_!" Cat finally announces after a paused moment to think. She turns to Jade with a bright smile. "_Summer lovin' had me a blast_," she sings. She's lowered her voice an octave to sing Danny's part from the movie.

Tori: "_Summer lovin' happened so fast_!"

André: "_I met a girl, crazy for me_…"

Robbie: "_Met a boy, as cute as can be_." Everyone at the table eyes Robbie in confusion and disgust, but they continue the song.

Tori, Cat, André, and Robbie: "_Summer days, driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights._"

Soon, everyone at the nearby tables joins in: "_Uh Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh_!" Cat laughs loudly afterwards. Only she can start a school-wide sing-a-long! Gently, she grabs Jade's arm and shakes her slightly. "_Tell me more, tell me more_," she begs in her song.

Beck, though somewhat sadly: "_Did you get very far_?"

Trina, who comes bounding over to the table with a bright, annoying smile: "_Tell me more, tell me more!_"

Tori: "_Like…does he have a car_?"

Jade rolls her eyes and everyone else sings: "_Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh_!"

André, who shoots up from the table and runs his finger under Jade's chin: "_She swam by me_—" He winks "—_She got a cramp_."

Tori, who jumps up from the table and places her hands on Andre's chest while putting her body against his side: "_He ran by me, got my suit_—"" She puts her leg around his waist "—_damp_."

Jade scoffs, especially when Beck jumps up to sing the next line. He pounds his fist against his chest to showboat: "_I saved her life, she nearly drowned_!"

Jade rolls her eyes and places her hand on his face, pushing him away. "_He showed off_!" She flips her hair back and sings the next line with a rueful laugh: "_Splashing around_…"

Everyone, including Jade: "_Summer sun, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights_!"

All the girls: "Tell me more, tell me more!"

Trina, who rolls her eyes and flips back her hair: "_Cuz he sounds like a drag_!"

Jade glares at her and Trina backs away in fright as everyone sings: "_Shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop_—"" The students dance around the tables, tossing their lunch trays around and dancing with them as some students jump on the tables to dance. With the last word, they all strike a pose and look to Jade: "_Yeah_!"

Jade, still glaring at Trina: "_He got friendly holding my hand_…"

Tori, who nudges André with a devilish smirk: "_While she got friendly down in the sa-a-and_!"

Jade, who flicks Tori on the nose: "_He was sweet! Just turned eighteen_."

Jade and Cat: "_Summer heat, boy and girl meet. But uh-oh those summer nigh-ights_!"

Everyone: "_Woo, woo, woo_!"

Jade, who sighs: "_It turned colder_—" She looks to Beck with sad eyes "_That's where it ends_…"

Beck, rather dejectedly: "_So I told her…we'd still be friends_…"

Beck and Jade, who walk toward each other with saddened expressions and hold hands: "_Summer dreams, ripped at the seams…but oh, those su-ummer…nigh-ights_…"

Jade's grip on Beck's hands tights when a sharp pain rips through her stomach. She doubles over and screams loudly. Several gasps ring out and several students reach for their phones to dial the number that will save Jade.


	5. The Boy

So, I've been checking the stats of my story on my phone, but I'm not getting very many reviews. So I've decided I'm not going to post anymore chapters of this until I get five reviews for this chapter. Get it? Chapter five gets five reviews! So, lemme have it!

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"**Chapter 5 – The Boy"**

Well we're here aren't we?

And I still don't have my brownies! I'm not happy about that.

Jade's not happy either. She's so unhappy that she's curled up in the fetal position actually crying. I guess by now you should have known Jade wasn't going to have her baby. You should also realize there's a pattern going on here. Three girls in the states who've all had miscarriages? But, you and I would be plucking at straws to say all three girls had been with the same boy right? I mean, there's no way a boy can travel the world in the course of one year…oh wait, there is…

Anyway, let's look at Miss Jade all down and distraught in her bed, shall we? Her little white nightgown is a little stained from the blood loss, but physically she'll be fine. Emotionally, she'll be a wreck for a long while. Cat rode with her to the hospital in the ambulance while a few others piled into cars to follow.

Cat lies in Jade's bed with her, holding the shaken Goth tightly and resting their heads together. Jade sobs loudly against Cat, causing the little redhead to cry as well. "It-it'll be o…okay, Jade," she sobs out. This only causes Jade to cry louder. "No it won't!" she screams. "It won't!" Her breathing becomes frantic and her body starts to shake. "He's…he's gonna hate me!"

Cat takes in deep breaths to stop herself from crying. "Your…your guy?" she questions. Jade nods slowly.

"He…he was so happy when I told him I-I was p-p-pregnant…"

Cat keeps Jade close and nuzzles her head into Jade's neck. "It'll…you'll be…it wasn't your fault," she sputters out. "My mommy lost a baby once," she whispers, "She…she was supposed to be my little sister, but my mommy lost her. The doctor said it wasn't her fault…that mommies lose babies sometimes. It's okay, Jade."

Jade sniffles and buries her face into Cat's shoulder. "I love you, Cat," she breathes. Well, well, well, there's nothing like heart-wrenching tragedy to bring out the best in people.

"I love you, too…"

The others arrive moments later to find both girls sleeping soundly on the bed. They don't bother waking Jade, and they simply place get-well stuffed animals in black fur and terrifying face around her bed—on the floor, the table, and even at the foot of her bed.

~*Oh look, a scene change!*~

Jade is allowed to go home the next day. She doesn't go to school; neither does our little kitty. Cat decides it'd be best if they stayed the whole day together, mainly so Cat could keep an eye on Jade. Bristol calls every hour on the hour to make sure Cat's okay, but it gets annoying to Jade after a while.

Around four, Cat has to leave because she's got to work at The Baby Store. After a long hug, Jade finally lets Cat go. Bristol comes by to pick her up and they both head back to the mall. They leave our little gemstone all alone in her home; her father and step-mother are too busy for their own good.

It's awfully quiet in that big house of hers.

Jade sighs once she hears Bristol's car spin away and crawls up onto her bed. She puts her PearPod onto its music dock and cranks it up all the way, blasting heavy guitars and killer drum solos. At first, she starts out on her back staring up at the ceiling. She closes her eyes for only a moment when a loud tapping on her window wakes her up. When she opens her eyes, she's on her side staring at her music player.

Then she gasps.

She jumps off the bed and races to the window to find the boy with shaggy brown hair and wide, golden eyes staring back at her. He sees her sullen expression and a scowl forms on his face. Slowly, Jade opens her window and steps aside so he can crawl into her room. The scowl doesn't leave his face.

"I told you it wouldn't work," she whispers quietly. The boy doesn't speak. He won't even look at her. "Look at me," she pleads with terrified eyes. Her hands snatch out and grab his shoulders. "Look at me!" When he doesn't, she pushes him away and turns from him, her hair whipping against his face as she moves to her bed.

"It wasn't my fault, you know," she says. "I told you I'd lose that baby, Tristan." She shoots up and looks at the brown-haired boy with angered eyes. "I told you it wouldn't work!" she shrieks. She picks up a lamp from her bedside table and chucks it at the boy. "You didn't listen!" she screams as he dodges the lamp. "You never listen to me!"

She goes to pick up the book on her table when he's beside her in a flash. Roughly his hand grasps her wrists and his lips come crashing down on her own. She doesn't fight the kiss—no, she loves his kiss. She presses her body tightly against his and he doesn't push back. He starts to growl softly into the kiss, and Jade starts to smirk. She knows he's about to give her what she wants. When his lips pull from hers and he starts to kiss her neck, biting her gently, she expects every touch.

She doesn't expect him to run away howling…


	6. Broken Phone

Oh hai! I know I said I'd only post this next chapter when I got five reviews for chapter five, but people don't listen and that makes me sad :(. I did get two reviews and some story alerts so that made me feel good. I'd really like you guys to review though and tell me what you think. I'm okay with anonymous reviews.

Anywho, this chapter is a little shorter because I'm trying to do a specific word count thing. But here is the next chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy it! Here Cat sees the mysterious boy for the first time :o!

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"**Chapter 6 – Broken Phone"**

Jade was really, really sad! After I went home with her—Beck drove her car back—she cried for a long amount of time! I almost cried again. Then she started getting really, really angry! She tried to throw things at me, and she cut my leg! When she saw it, she got upset and she hugged me tightly. Then we spent the rest of the day having a girl's day. We popped popcorn and watched so many movies! We watched a lot of scary movies because Jade likes them, but she let me watch Moulin Rouge! I love that movie!

But now it's four and Bristol's honking the horn outside, telling me it's time to go! Now I get to go to work, yay! I _love_ The Baby Store _soooooo_ much! I love the little pink dress my boss makes me wear as my 'uniform;' it's so pretty!

Once we get to the mall, I hug Bristol goodbye and skip to The Baby Store. I go to the backroom and take my dress from my locker. This one time, I had this really pretty dress at home that I was gonna wear to Jade's birthday party but my brother got really sick. He didn't get it on the dress, but he ate most of the dress because he read that silk makes you less sick!

I don't leave my dresses at home anymore, haha!

"You look beautiful today, Cat," Beverly—my boss—announces when I come out of the backroom. I smile warmly. "Thank you!" I exclaim. It always makes me feel so good when someone tells me I look pretty! My mommy used to tell me I looked pretty, but now she doesn't. She doesn't say anything really… One time, my sister told me I didn't speak until I was seven; I don't remember anything before I was eight though, haha!

Beverly used to let me work behind the register, but I like to play with the pretty buttons; they all light up when you press them! One time I pushed too many buttons and Beverly said we were 'out' $300. Since then, she hasn't let me touch the register. She lets me fix the racks and clean up though. Sometimes she even lets me sigh for new baby clothes! Most of the time she does it, but I love signing things! One time I signed a pretty piece of paper but Daddy told me I couldn't sign for anything else because we got a bear in the house! Bears are scary…

I see a little boy run in and he looks a little scared! I run over to him and kneel beside him. He looks like my brother when he was seven! "Hi, I'm Cat!" I exclaim happily. The boy smiles widely at me. "I'm Tommy," he tells me. I ruffle his little blonde hairs. My brother had blonde hair once! But that's because he stuck his head in the washing machine for thirty minutes…

"Where's your mommy, Tommy?" I ask. Then I giggle. That rhymed haha! That, bat, Cat—that's me! Tommy frowns and I frown too. "She's in heaven," he tells me. "My daddy and I came to buy flowers for her like we do every year, but I lost him." His eyes start to water and I gasp. "Don't cry!" I cry out. I grab his hand. "Come on I'll go with you and help you find him!" Tommy smiles and he's missing two teeth! He's so adorable. I hope one day I have a little boy that looks like him.

Tommy starts to pull me and I run with him, but I have to be hunched over cuz he's so little! Then I get a text, yay! I pull my phone out from my—_bra_—and end up bumping into someone's tummy! I drop my phone and watch the screen crack…

"No!" I cry out. "I broke my phone!" I look up at the mean man who made me break my phone and didn't even apologize. I gasp and Tommy lets go of my hand. "Daddy!" he screams as he runs away with his arms stretched out.

The man looks like he's my age! He's…Beck's height and he's got shaggy brown hair. His eyes are yellow! I never knew a boy with yellow eyes. But there were a bunch of people with yellow eyes in one of Bristol's books. I can't remember the name of it…

"Excuse you!" I shout. The boy just looks down at me without saying anything. His eyes…they stay on mine…like they won't let go! This one time, my brother wouldn't let go of my doll when I wanted to play with it. He broke her head off and I ended up breaking my arm!

The boy keeps his eyes on mine for a long while before he finally blinks. I blink when he blinks and I bend down for my phone. Before I grab it, he's down on one knee and he has my broken pink PearPhone in his hand. He doesn't say anything, but he gestures it to me. He's so weird!

"That's mine," I tell him. He gestures it to me and I take it from him. "You made me break it," I say. He doesn't say anything and I look back at my broken phone. When I look back up, the boy isn't anywhere around!


	7. Yellow Eyes

So yeah, I said I'd wait to upload and stuff but I love that I'm getting so many favorites and story alerts. I'd really love you two to review but I enjoy the favorites and alerts. Btw, who's liking the sleek ? I know I am!

So um, I have a birthday coming up, yay! Just letting you guys know.

Oh! You guys saw The Blonde Squad? Well, that's inspired me to write another story unfortunately. I won't give up on this one or any of my others. So be on the lookout for that. There will be a lot of what-ifs in that story, especially WHAT IF CAT AND ROBBIE KISSED OR SOMETHING CABBIE RELATED! Grrr.

So yes, without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

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"**Chapter 7 – Yellow Eyes"**

He ran away!

I didn't know people could run that fast. One time, my brother moved so fast that he zoomed by me when I blinked and almost ran into a building. Oh wait…he had really specially skates on, haha! That boy didn't have skates though…

With my broken phone, I went back to The Baby Store and went back to work. Tommy and his daddy came by and his daddy gave me five dollars for watching Tommy! That was _so_ nice of him.

Then six hours later, Beverly says it's time to close up shop and I head down to Two Million Books to play with my sister! As soon as I get there, there's a big crowd in there. Who knew so many people wanted books at ten at night? One time my brother stayed out until ten at night…but he came back in handcuffs with three cows mooing loudly behind him and he was wearing a dress. We had to pay a lot of money so he wouldn't go to jail and we didn't even get to keep one of the cows!

"What's going on?" I ask as I run up to Bristol. She sighs tiredly and 'rings up' another customer. When my brother came home with a face full of piercings, he said he was 'rung up,' haha. But the man Bristol rung up doesn't have any piercings…

Jade has piercings! She has a tattoo too. Oh, I have a tattoo! Wait no that was a temporary one, haha.

"Michael Caroni's in town," she answers as she rings up another man. I raise my eyebrow the way Jade does it when she's curious and actually interested in something. "Michael Caroni?" I repeat. That's a funny name! It sounds like macaroni, haha! Michael Macaroni's in town!

"Yeah," Bristol sighs out as she rings up another customer. "He's the author of this big werewolf book series that he claims are based on real-life events." She rings up a man and a woman who have matching spikey hair cuts! "His final book is out and he's in town for the month to finish his book signing tour."

"I love signing things!" I exclaim.

Bristol's head shoots to me with narrowed green eyes. "_No_, Cat," she hisses. "The last time you signed something we had a _bear_ in our house!" A really fat man with no hair coughs loudly. "Can you _hurry up_, lady?" he asks really meanly! Bristol plasters on the same fake smile Jade normally wears and turns back to Meanie Fat Man. "I'm sorry _sir_," she forces out as she rings him up. "Have a _nice_ day." Meanie Fat Man mutters really mean and dirty words and I gasp while Bristol sneers at him.

"Stay _away_ from Mr. Caroni, Cat," Bristol begs tiredly as she rings up a woman with bright pink hair. "Just…go find some books to read okay?" I nod and skip away. "Kay, kay!" I call back to her. But as I skip, I feel someone's eyes on me. I stop skipping and look out the store.

There's that boy again!

He's looking at me again! He's looking at me with his weird yellow eyes.

Then I bump into a table. Sometimes I forget to stop walking when I'm doing other things; that's how my phone got broken!

"I'm so sorry!" I cry out. Then I hear Bristol groan and I look up and see that I made Macaroni's drink spill in his lap. Macaroni's blonde hair and tired green eyes look up at me. He laughs softly. "It's alright, dear," he tells me. "That drink wasn't too good and I needed new pants anyway."

"Kay, kay!" I announce with a big smile. Yay, I didn't make him mad! Now I don't feel bad about skipping off to the books!

I like the Teen Fiction section and so does my sister. Once I get to the Teen Fiction section—with all the pretty books and colors!—I see this big display of bunches of copies of all four _Spark Blood_ books. Those are the books my sister loves! I skip over to them and pick up one of the books. The cover of the first one has this girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes like mine and this guy with blonde hair and yellow eyes is holding her. This is the first book where Elizabeth finds out Arnold is a vampire!

What if that weird boy is a vampire too! I bet he has a funny name…

One time my brother decided to call himself Shirley. Then came home in handcuffs…

I fall to my floor and cross my legs like Jade says the Indians do! My brother says we're part Indian, but I don't believe him. But anyway, I start reading the first _Spark Blood_ book. By the time Bristol gets off work—maybe an hour later—I get to the part where Elizabeth and Arnold are yelling at each other in the pretty field because he wants her to say it out loud he's a vampire!

"Come on, Cat," Bristol calls as she starts to turn out the lights. "It's time to go home." I groan softly and look up to see her walking toward me, her blonde curly hair bouncing funnily. "But I'm reading," I whine, rocking from side to side. Bristol sighs like she's annoyed. "I have all four _Spark Blood_ books at home, Cat," she reminds me. "You know that. It's eleven o'clock and I'm ready to sleep. Put the book up and let's go!"

I sigh sadly and put the book back on its fancy little stand. My brother had a fancy little stand once and he filled it with a bunch of Brittanie dolls. Oh wait, he made that for me! My brother likes to build things, haha.

When Bristol and I get home, I pull my sleeping mommy's blanket over her shoulders and I read Bristol's book all night long. Then I dreamed!


	8. Bad Dreams

Oh hi! So this one is two chapters in one because I couldn't bear to break it in half. So yeah, the first dream in this is an edited excerpt from my non-fanfiction story "Venom." If you want to read a bigger excerpt like it was normally written, I can post it on my profile. Oooo, this is where we see more of the scary boy! Leave a review and tell me what you think!

BTW, special thanks to kikigirl4321, Jeremy Shane, and Xxxx4evaSummerxxxx for the consistent reviews!

That being said, enjoy!

* * *

"**Chapter 8 – Bad Dreams"**

"It's about _time_ you got here!" Jade groans in annoyance. I look to my left to find her sitting on the ground with a long black dress with a really low neckline!

"We've been waiting for a long time, Cat," Tori announces. I gasp slightly because she scared me and I turn to see her smiling at me. She wears a really pretty white dress that comes to her knees and has long, silky sleeves.

"Where am I?" I ask quietly, looking between my friends.

"It doesn't matter, Cat," Jade hisses.

"We're here to warn you, Cat," Tori tells me. I gasp and look to her with frightened eyes. "You need to stay away from that boy you saw today. You know…the one with the yellow eyes?"

I giggle and stand up. "He's weird!" I exclaim as I skip away. I look around me. I'm in a forest with a lot of trees and pretty grass. There are so many red and blue and green and orange and yellow flowers. Oh, oh, there are pink ones! I run over to them and kneel in front of them, smelling them. They smell like roses and lilies!

"Cat, come back here right now!" Jade screams. I don't turn back to her. "I wanna smell the pretty flowers!" I cry out. "You can smell the pretty flowers later!" she exclaims. I sigh and turn back around.

"She's right," Tori says calmly as I skip back to them. "We've got important things to tell you, Cat."

"Stuff like what?" I question once I stand in front of them. Jade opens her mouth to say something else when I hear leaves and trees rumbling.

I hear a hissing and a growling behind me and a blur rushes from the corner of my eye. I snap around to see what it is, but all I see is the patch of pretty flowers. Then I hear this really loud and scary growling noise behind me. I squeal slightly and turn around to Jade and Tori. They have really black noses and yellow eyes. They have a lot of hair growing out of their faces, too! They need to wax; one time I let my brother wax my eyebrows and he ended up having to get stitches on his arm! Their teeth are bared and they have really sharp teeth like a dog!

But they aren't growling at me…

I turn back around to see the blur dash around in front of me. Then he stops by my side, but he doesn't look at me. I turn to see him standing in front of Tori. He's probably a little taller than Beck, but his brown hair is all slicked back. The guy crouches in front of Tori and she does the same. He bares his teeth at her and growls back at her. It's so loud!

His nose moves up as he sniffs really loudly. Then he grows really, _really_ loudly and jumps at Tori! Oh my God he's biting her really hard! She's bleeding! She's trying to fight back but…now she stopped…

I back away and scream loudly, bumping into Jade. She pushes me to the ground and the weird, scary monster guy turns around to face her. He looks really angry and his face is covered in Tori's…_blood_…

Jade stands crouched in her defense mode and the scary boy mimics it, slowly moving toward her and audibly sniffing her. He circles her slowly, taking in her scent before returning to her front. They both stand up straight and he moves closer to her. He cups her chin in his tanned hand with long fingers and brings his lips down on hers. Their lips crash together for a moment before he deepens the kiss and a trail of blood streams down from Jade's mouth.

That's so gross!

He pulls away from her and she takes in a sharp gasp. In an instant her face returns to its normal reflection of my own. She looks at me with dull eyes as more blood spills from her mouth. The monster grabs Jade roughly by her neck and she lets out a gasp before he turns her head so fast that her neck snaps!

I scream and run as fast as I can away from here!

I don't get far as the growling gets louder and the monster boy tackles me. We tumble to the ground and roll until I'm on my back and the monster is on top of me. I scream in shattered breaths. What does he want from me?

He hovers over me with those hungry yellow eyes, breathing heavily and fast while growling lowly. A smirk crosses his devilish lips, but his teeth still show, still drip with blood, still hungering for my own. He's so scary!

Then his hand slides up to my cheek and I feel goose bumps rising on my skin. He stares at me directly in my eyes, like he's trying to terrify me. I _really_ think it's working!

My fingers twitch with fear and I let out small whimpers of worry, clenching my eyes shut. I feel like my heart is going to beat through my chest!

The mean and scary boy slowly drags his tongue up the side of my neck to the back of my ear and I let out a terrified sob. He grabs my chin roughly and turns my head, exposing my neck further as his other hand grips tightly on my arm.

Before I can breathe, before I can scream, before I can make a sound, the monster attacks my neck and tears at my skin, letting my blood spill into his mouth. I cry out in pain then I shoot up from my bed with a loud scream.

Vince comes running into my room with a really big baseball bat. His shoulder length brown hair isn't in its usual pony-tail and it's all messy around his head. He looks like a bush! "What's wrong?" he screams. I cover my ears and start crying, closing my eyes shut. Then I feel rapid footsteps and my bed falls a little before Vince puts his arms around my shoulders.

He says something, but I don't hear him. I take my hands off my ears and look up at him. "_What_?" I ask loudly. Three other people tell me to shush and I laugh. They're so mean and silly!

Vince sighs. "I asked what was wrong, Kitten," he repeats. I giggle and rest my head against his neck. His arms wrap a little tighter around me. "I just had a really scary dream," I tell him. "I'm okay, though. I'm sorry I scared you!" Vince sighs again and kisses my forehead. "As long as my baby sis is okay," he breathes. He rubs my shoulders and gets up. "Go back to sleep, okay?"

I smile widely and fall back onto my bed. "Kay, kay!" I exclaim. More people shush me again and Vince laughs softly. He pulls the covers up to my neck and tucks me in before giving me another kiss on my forehead.

"Night, Cat."

"Goodnight."

_**~*Can I change the scene? Yay!*~**_

I wake up to birds chirping everywhere. I love hearing birds! They never wake me up! My eyes flutter open and I see big yellow eyes looking down on me. I giggle and put my hand on the face of my eyes. "You're too close," I breathe slightly. I push the face off me and I go to roll over when someone grabs my wrist.

"Hey, let go!" I plead. They don't though, and then they _sniff_ my hand! That's so gross! "Cut it out!" I shout, trying to snatch my hand away. When I finally get my hand away, I end up falling off the bed! I don't wanna get up, though, so I lay there with my face on the carpet. It's so soft!

A hand grabs me by the back of my nightgown and pulls me up. "Who is that?" I call as I try to pull their hand off me. Then I hear this loud growling and I start screaming. That's the same growling from my nightmare!

"Cat," Bristol calls, shaking me awake. "Cat, wake up and stop screaming!" My eyes shoot open and I look up into Bristol's worried green eyes. I smile widely at her. "Morning, Brisket!" I greet happily. When I was little, I watched one of Tony's cooking shows and he taught me how to make a brisket; I said that sounded like our sister's name so I started calling her that.

Bristol laughs softly and hugs me tightly. "You're such a silly Kitty," she tells me. I laugh loudly and hug her back, climbing onto my knees. "We can be silly together!" I exclaim. Bristol chuckles and picks me up off the bed and putting me on my feet on my shaggy carpet. "Maybe later," she tells me. "Right now you need to get ready so we can go to school."

I jump over to my closet and start rummaging through my _huge_ closet. "Kay, kay!" I announce happily. Bristol leaves and I continue looking for something really cute to wear. I finally decide on a cute little blue dress with ruffles at the bottom! I close my closet door and toss my dress on the bed. I like to change in my room because our house—even though it's really small—has two stories on it. All the bedrooms are upstairs and there are no trees by my window, so I don't have to worry about the mean men Tony talks about looking into my window.

I start to pull my pretty pink nightgown off when I hear something. I don't know it was, but it startles me. I jump slightly and let my nightgown fall back to my knees. My head snaps to my window just as a brown blur falls from my window. I rush to my window and pull it open, looking down and not finding anything.

I could have sworn I saw a flash of yellow…

_**~*Yay, I get another scene change!*~**_

"It was _so_ weird," I tell Tori at lunch. "I…I had this really bad dream last night and then I had another one this morning. Then I saw this big blur out by my window. But it looked a little like this guy I saw at the mall last night!"

Tori gasps. "Maybe you should tell the police then," she says. "I could get my dad to send a few people after he gets back from his 'business trip.'" I smile widely. "Kay, kay!" I announce as I skip down to the table.

"Hey, Cutie," Robbie greets as I sit between him and Beck. Tori sits in front of me beside André. They're dating! I lightly tap his nose, giggling. "You're so gross," I tell him, scrunching my nose up at him. Beck wraps his arm around my shoulders. "You're in a good mood, Cat," he tells me. My head snaps to him. "What's that supposed to mean?" I cry out. Beck chuckles slightly and shakes his head.

Then someone bumps into me and spills their food on my head. It's warm and squishy and icky!

"Watch what you're doing!" André demands as Beck and Robbie help me pull spaghetti out of my hair. Whoever did it doesn't say anything but I hear them growl. I gasp and turn around, flipping spaghetti into Robbie's face. I see that boy with the brown hair and yellow eyes looking at André with a really mean look! Then he looks at me and I scream. Everyone else looks at me, too, but I don't care about them.

I jump up from the table and run the other way from the boy. Robbie and Beck call after me, but I can't go back there! I know that boy is gonna hurt me! So I run as fast as I can to the park…


	9. The Park

Yay, another update! So uh, in the last chapter you got another little bitty glimpse of this mysterious boy. Well in this chapter, it's nothing but Cat coming face to face with him. So what's gonna happen?

Oh yeah, thank you to everyone who reviewed. You guys are really great. I really like working on this story because I think it's cute, and I don't normally do cute...

So leave a review telling me what you think! As soon as I get five reviews on this chapter, I'll post the next one!

* * *

"**Chapter 9 – The Park"**

I love the park!

I love the birds and the trees and butterflies…I love the park! Oh wait, I already said that.

But I don't love that scary boy I saw at the mall and at school!

I keep running until I get to my favorite bench in the middle of the park. When I was little, my daddy took me here and we carved our names on the back of the bench! Now everyone knows Little Cat was here! My daddy says I was a tiger cub because they were cute when they were little and they grew up to be big fierce kitties that weren't afraid of anything!

I wish I was a tiger right now. Then I wouldn't be afraid of that boy…

I collapse on the bench and sit with my head down. I wish my daddy was here. He always knew how to make me feel better when I was upset.

I feel a tear fall onto my leg and I wipe my face. Then I feel someone else's hand on my face to wipe away the other tears. I gasp and turn to see that boy again! I scream and end up jumping off the bench, falling on my butt. I let out a loud gasp of pain and lay flat on my back, refusing to get up. Maybe if I pretend I'm dead, he'll go away like that bear did!

But he doesn't…

I see his face lean over the bench (faces can't move by themselves, haha!) and he holds out a hand to me. His eyes are still yellow, but they look really sorry. I start to feel bad for him so I take his hand and he picks me up off the ground. I dust the grass off my butt and sit back on the bench beside him, staring into his eyes. They're so big and yellow and…different!

"Thank you," I breathe out. The boy nods and turns to reach for something in his pocket. He pulls out and opens a small folded piece of paper. It's a flier for the Hollywood Arts Kickback!

"I'm going there!" I announce with a giggle and a small clap. The boy pushes the paper toward me, grunting. But I already _know_ about the Kickback! What does he want? I look up at him and he sighs. Then he points at me, back at himself, and then back at the paper. I look at him for a minute before it hits me! Not literally though because that would hurt…

"You want me to go with you to the Kickback?" I ask slowly. Jade's been teaching me how to read people and 'signs!' One time my brother broke a sign. He hit it with a baseball bat and it said _crack_! The police still don't know he did it and he made me _swear_ not to tell. You won't tell anyone will you?

The boy nods and I open my mouth to speak when a tear falls on my nose. But wait…tears can't reach my nose can they?

I look up to see a lot of gray clouds up in the sky and a raindrop falls right in the middle of my forehead. I squeak slightly and giggle. "It's raining!" I announce when I look back at the boy. I quickly grab his hand and we run together to the area with the benches under this giant metal umbrella.

Once we get under the giant metal umbrella, the boy shakes his hair like a dog and water flies everywhere. I laugh loudly and shield my face with my hands from the water. "Stop, you're getting water everywhere!" I exclaim.

Then the boy stops shaking his head and smiles softly. But it's like…it's one of those crooked smiles like that one Elizabeth says Arnold always gives her when he decides he wants to start talking to her in _Spark Blood_! That's before she realizes he's a vampire.

"Are you a vampire?" I ask with a frown. I gasp and my eyes widen. "Do you have a silly name like the vampire in _Spark Blood_?" The boy keeps his little crooked smile and shakes his head.

"Why don't you say anything?" I question. One time my sister refused to speak for three whole months. But she was protesting something. Bristol likes to protest things! The only thing she hasn't protested her job is because we need the money…

The boy shrugs slightly and I frown. "You…don't like me do you?" I say. He probably won't speak because I've been bad! I'm a bad person and he doesn't like me!

The boys yellow eyes widen and he shakes his head rapidly. He makes these weird sounds trying to shush me and he gently puts his hands on my shoulders. Gently, he wipes away my tears with both hands one at a time and I sniffle loudly, looking down. He puts one of his hands under my chin and lifts my chin. I look up at him and I feel like his big yellow eyes are boring down into me!

The next thing I know, his lips are on mine.

Ow! They shocked me! But…it doesn't feel so bad.

I…my arms end up around his neck and his hands move down to my waist. He kisses me like Daniel used to kiss me! Daniel's my ex-boyfriend. But Daniel wasn't a stranger when I kissed him…

Then this boy starts growling and his hands start holding me too tight. I pull from his lips and they move to my neck. "Stop," I plead as I try to push him off, "You're hurting me!"

But he doesn't stop though. He keeps kissing my neck and his hands move down to the bottom of my dress. "_Stop it_!" I scream loudly. He's doing that bad thing Bristol told me not to let guy's do! I punch him hard across the face and he lets go.

Then I run as fast as I can.


	10. Kitty's Flowers

**_"Chapter 10 – Kitty's Flowers"_**

I ran and ran and ran. I thought I was going home, but I ended up at the mall! And before I knew it, I was at The Baby Store!

"Cat?" Alison calls out to me. She's the co-manager when Beverly isn't here. She normally works when Beverly isn't here or when I'm not on my shift. "What are you doing here so early? Your shift isn't for another three hours."

I try not to, but then I start crying softly. I try to make my way to the backroom to put on my pretty pink dress, but Alison stops me.

"Cat," she calls softly, worriedly. "What's wrong? Did something happen at home?" I sniffle again and don't look at her. I shake my head and try to go to the backroom again, but she won't let me. "Ah, ah, ah, Little Girlie, you're not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong."

I let out a loud sob and quickly cover my mouth. I wipe away my tears and sniffle some more before I look at her. "There-there was thi-this boy," I start. "He was really scary last night and then I had these _really_ scary nightmares about him and then I saw him at school. Then…then I ran away to the park and he followed me! And he…"

I start crying again and Alison gasps, holding me tightly. "Oh, baby, shh," she soothes as she rubs my back. "You're okay now; you're okay. Everything's going to be okay."

One time, my brother hit me in the back of the head with a golf club. He said it was an accident but I had to go to the hospital. When I was in the hospital, I cried so much… Bristol told me if I stopped crying that she'd give me ice cream.

Maybe if I stop crying now, I'll get ice cream!

I start giggling and pull away from Alison. "I'm okay!" I exclaim happily. Then I skip to the backroom to put on my pretty dress. I love my dress! It's so bright and lovely and it makes me feel like a flower…if flowers had pink stems and pretty red petals, haha!

Alison tells me that we don't have the money to let me work overtime so I get to sit in the back for a few hours! I get to listen to my music and draw!

When Alison tells me it's time to work, I come out to find a tall boy with kinda long, dark hair looking through the girls' section of the store. Then I see his jean jacket, loose jeans that fit him _really_ well, and his battle boots!

"Beck!" I scream as I run up to him. He turns to me in confusion at first and then his face brightens before I jump on him, hugging him tightly by the neck. He hugs me back for a moment, but I don't let go. It feels good to have someone holding me, someone I _know_ isn't scary.

"Cat," he strains out. "Cat…can't…breathe…" I let go of him and smile widely. "I can breathe just _fine_, silly head!" I announce as my feet touch the ground. Beck laughs softly and I giggle, grabbing his hands. "What are you doing here?" I ask happily. I love seeing Beck! He's so nice to me!

"Remember how I said my mom was pregnant?" he asks. I nod with a big smile, but then my smile falls because I don't remember. "No," I breathe, twirling a lock of my hair.

Beck laughs softly. "Well she is," he tells me. "She said she needed some things and I volunteered to get them for her."

I smile at him. He's so thoughtful! He's thoughtful and sweet and nice and my best friend!

I wanna say something to him, but I hear a growling that makes me gasp. I look past Beck out the store to see that boy that kissed me! He's holding a bunch of pretty flowers, but he looks kinda mad…

I cling to Beck's arms with a small squeak and stand completely in front of him so that boy won't see me! "Cat?" Beck calls. "What's wrong?"

"There's a scary boy out there," I whisper into his shirt. Beck starts to turn but I cling to him tighter. "No!" I beg. "Don't look at him! He's scary!"

Beck wraps his arms around me and gently rubs my back. "How long has he been scaring you, Cat?" he asks softly. I sniffle slightly, feeling water going down my face. "I saw him last night," I start. "He…he was here and he made me break my phone! Then I had really scary dreams and then he was at school! I ran away but he followed me to the park. Then he kissed me and tried to hurt me!"

Beck's arms tighten around me for a moment. "Why didn't you tell anyone earlier?" he asks. But his voice is different. He sounds like he's not his nice Beck-self…like he's angry…

The growling gets louder and Beck's hands grip tighter on my sides, hurting me. I let out a small squeak of pain and Beck lets go. He steps back and I look up at him to see his eyes are narrowed and he's frowning really hard.

"Beck?" I call slightly, my voice shaking. He doesn't say anything back to me though. He _does_ turn away from me to face the boy. I quickly dart around in front of him because I'm afraid of what he might do!

Beck holds his arm out and gently moves me out of the way, his eyes locked on the boy. I turn to see the boy advancing toward Beck, gripping the flowers tightly in his hand. I can hear the paper around the flowers crackling loudly as they bend over his hand. That boy's really strong…

I cling to Beck's arm pleadingly, but he snatches away from me just as they come face to face…

* * *

_**Oooooooh, Cliff Hanger! Leave me a review telling me what you think okay? It's really helpful when you do. Tell me what you like or dislike or what questions you have!**_

_**Until next time,**_

_**Skye**_


	11. The Fight

**_So hi! Last time, I left you all with a tiny cliff-hanger. Now, I give you something interesting, if the other chapters weren't interesting to begin with. Hopefully I'll have a long way to go before this story is over, so I hope you enjoy every moment of it. Hmmmm...I don't know what else to say here, other than check out my other stories._**

**_Leave a review telling me what you think and I'll see you next time!_**

**_-Skye_**

* * *

**_"Chapter 11 – The Fight"_**

"Beck, please don't go near him," I beg as I cling to myself. The boy continues to growl loudly and starts to show his teeth! Then I hear Alison's footsteps behind me.

"You two are causing a disturbance," she announces. "Unless you're going to settle down and buy something, I'm going to have to call the police and escort you out of this mall."

Beck and the boy ignore her though…

The growling is really loud beside me and I turn to see Beck baring his teeth, too! No! What if he's a monster like that boy is! But…Beck wouldn't hurt me would he…?

Before anything else can be said, the boy lunges at Beck.

I scream loudly as they both start fighting! My brother got into a fight once and he almost died! I don't want Beck to die!

The boy punches Beck in the face and Beck punches him back. I can see on the boy's face that Beck's hit took him off guard. I guess the boy thinks he's stronger than Beck…and he's been proven wrong…

The boy tackles Beck to the ground and I scream again, backing away. "Stop it!" I scream as the boy punches Beck in the nose. I think I heard it crack…

"Cat?" Alison calls. I turn back to her to see her running up to the three of us. She grabs my arm and tries to pull me back a little. "Get away from them," she hisses. "I just called security and they'll be here soon."

No! If the mall cops come then they'll take Beck away and he'll have to spend a night in jail like my brother did!

I yank my arms away from Alison and tackle the boy who's on top of Beck trying to hurt him! "Get off of him!" I scream as I try to pull him off Beck. With one hand, the boy continues to punch Beck and he holds me away with the other.

I scratch at the boy's arm and he starts growling as Beck starts bleeding. With a loud, thunderous growl—one time…it was thundering really badly and it struck my brother on the head!—the boy pushes me away from him so hard that I slide across the floor and hit the glass door. The glass shatters around me as I'm knocked onto my back and it falls on my arms and face, cutting me all over!

I can't scream…

Bristol always tells me not to scream when I get hurt because it never helps anything.

"Cat!" Alison exclaims. I hear her pretty heels click as she runs over to me and Beck calls out my name too. I open my eyes to catch the boy running away from me again, the police calling out to him, as Beck and Alison run up to me.

They try to help me up off the ground, but I scream out in pain. I didn't want to scream…but my leg hurt so much!

"Her leg!" Beck shouts. Alison gasps loudly and I see her fumbling for her phone through blurry eyes. My leg hurts so bad!

I close my eyes to stop my tears and when I open them again, I'm in the back of an ambulance. There's someone holding my hand. It's Beck! Yay, Beck's here!

"Beck," I breathe happily. He smiles warmly down at me. "Hey, Cat," he sighs out in relief.

"Are we going on a trip?" I ask excitedly. He chuckles slightly and rubs the back of my hand. "Yeah," he answers quietly. "You got hurt, but we're taking you on a trip and you're gonna be all better soon."

I try to move but my leg starts hurting and I gasp loudly. A guy in one of those ambulance man suits gently puts his hand on my leg. "Miss, please don't move too much," he asks in a soft voice. "We're almost at the hospital now where a nice doctor will take care of you."

I smile widely at him. "Kay, kay!" I exclaim happily. Beck laughs slightly and we start talking about stuff as we go to the hospital. I keep trying to talk about the boy in the mall, but Beck keeps changing the subject. He thinks I don't notice he's changing the subject as I laugh happily about what he's talking about, but Jade's been teach me how to 'read people' and notice things.

Did I tell you that already, haha? Jade teaches me so much that I don't even know if I'd remember it all!

I remember that boy though…

**_~*Weee, I changed the sceeeeeeene!*~_**

We went to the hospital and the doctor had to give me lots of stitches on my arms and the back of my legs because the glass really hurt me. He had to put lots of bandages on my face because I'd been cut there, too. He said my leg was sprained, not broken, so I had to wear it in a 'splint' for a week while it healed.

But it's pretty and it's pink and I don't need crutches to walk!

After the doctor makes me all better, he tells Beck that I can go home. Alison drove his truck to the hospital and meets us outside. She hugs me tightly and it hurts a little bit because she touched a lot of my stitches, but I don't let her know. I scared her enough already!

It was really stupid of me to try and pull that boy off Beck…

Alison lives a little down the road from the hospital and normally takes the bus home after work. But we probably had to close early today because I fell through the glass door and the bus doesn't come for another hour!

Beck helps me into the front seat of his truck while Alison climbs like a monkey into the back, haha! Then he drives down to her house and drops her off before he takes me safely back home.


	12. Beck's Sleepover

_**Yay! Another Chapter!**_

_**Thank you to Jeremy Shane, Xxxx4evaSummerxxxx, and FaeryGirlsRock for being really good reviewers! I really read all of your reviews so I'd love it if more people left reviews.**_

_**Quick recap: Beck and 'Yellow Eyes' got into a fight at The Baby Store and Cat got knocked into a window (poor kitty) where she had to get stitches and a splint on her leg. **_

_**That in mind, I hope you're ready for this chapter. Leave a review telling me what you think!**_

_**Be safe, lovelies.**_

_**-Skye**_

* * *

**_"Chapter 12 – Beck's Sleepover"_**

Well I thought Beck was talking me home…

He's taking me back to his RV! I love his RV. It's really hot in there though.

"I think you should stay with me for a while, Cat," he announces as he pulls up to his RV. "Like a sleepover?" I ask happily. I love sleepovers! Robbie and I used to have sleepovers all the time, but then he started being really weird and we stopped having them. Jade and I have sleepovers all the time! But she always makes us have them at her house because she doesn't like my brother…

Beck chuckles softly. "Yeah," he breathes, "Like a sleepover." His face falls as he steps out of the truck and he quickly moves around the front to open my door for me. Then he helps me out and puts his arm around my waist as he helps me get to the door. He's so helpful!

"You can use my phone to call your parents and tell them you're staying with me, okay?" he says. "I can go by your house later and pick up some clothes for you."

"No!" I exclaim. "You can't!" None of my friends really know that my daddy left us or that we moved from our bigger house; they don't know what our new house looks like.

"My brother broke a lamp and set part of the house on fire!" I quickly lie, looking away from him. "My mom doesn't want anyone coming around until it's fixed." I look back to him with a hopeful smile. "Can I ask my sister to bring me clothes?"

He puts on a really serious face for a minute before he answers me.

"I guess that'll work," he answers quietly. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

I gasp loudly. I didn't do anything bad did I? My daddy told me that bad kittens don't grow up to be good tigers. I wanna be a good tiger for my daddy!

"What's wrong with me?" I ask terrified. Beck gently helps me sit on his bed and he sits beside me, not taking his arm from my waist the whole time. He doesn't look at me when he speaks though. "You know that guy I got into a fight with back at the mall?" he asks.

I nod with a big frown. Of course I remember! It was just a half hour ago!

"Well he's a really bad guy," Beck explains. "He's gonna try to hurt you again and I don't want that so I'm gonna keep you safe, okay?" I nod softly and rest my head on his shoulder. "You're so sweet," I breathe. I love having such a nice friend like Beck!

Sometimes I fall asleep without think of it, haha. I guess I must have fell asleep because when I woke up I was lying on Beck's bed and he was on the floor passed out! Then I feel bad because I'm taking up his bed. He could fit up here too!

Slowly and without making any noises, I climb down off Beck's bed and I have to be really careful or else I'll hurt myself. I pull his covers up a little bit and scoot, scoot, scoot beside him, resting my head on his shoulder. Beck groans softly and his head turns to me. He smiles softly.

"What are you doing?" he asks groggily. His eyes are kinda closed and they don't look like they wanna open. His hair's all messed up too! I think it's funny when his hair's messed up because it reminds me of my daddy's hair!

"I didn't want you sleeping by yourself," I tell him quietly. He chuckles a little bit. "Alright," he says, "But go back to sleep. We've got school in a couple hours…"

"Kay, kay," I breathe as my eyelids start to fall. They're so heavy! And Beck putting his arm around me is making me really tired. He's so warm!

**_~*Sceeeeeeeeeeeeene chaaaaaaaaaaange!*~_**

When I wake up, Beck isn't on the floor with me! I look around, but he's nowhere in sight and the door to his RV is closed.

"Beck?" I call out. Slowly, I sit up and the covers fall off me. I'm still wearing my uniform from The Baby Store, yay! I love my pretty dress.

"Beck?" I call out again. But he doesn't answer. He's being really mean! Maybe he's in his parents' house or something! Oh, maybe his mommy will let me rub her pregnant belly!

I try to get up fast, but I still have that splint on me and it hurts to move too much. But when I finally do get up, I limp all the way to the RV door which is really far when you have to limp! When I get there, I find a note on the door. I love notes! One time my brother got a note from his job…but they fired him…

He doesn't like notes…

I take the note from the door and look over the pretty handwriting!

_Cat, I'm making breakfast. I didn't want to wake you up. – Beck_

He's so sweet!

My tummy grumbles a little and I push the door open.

As soon as I do, I scream because that boy is there and his face is scarred and scary!

"Cat!" Beck screams as he shakes me. My eyes shoot open to look at his and I smile widely. "Hi, Beck!" I exclaim. I love slumber parties and when my friends wake me up!

Beck pulls me close to him and hugs me tightly. I hug him back and bounce slightly. Then I realize I'm on his bed again. Did I dream sleeping on the floor, too? I could have sworn we were on the floor. Sometimes I dream weird things…

Or maybe he put me back up here while I was asleep…

"Cat," Beck breathes worriedly once he lets go of me, "I…went to your house earlier to get your things…"


	13. The Talk

Oh hi! It's been a little bit since I updated this because I've been preoccupied. But I was bored in class one day and randomly started writing for this. Leave a review and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is always welcome!

* * *

**_"Chapter 13 – The Talk"_**

"Why?" I scream loudly. "Why would you do that? I told you I'd call my sister to get my stuff!" This is bad, bad, _bad_! Beck wasn't supposed to see my old house or that I lied!

He's gonna hate me!

"Cat, calm down," he begs softly. "I'm not upset with you or anything." Yay, he's not mad! I smile widely and go to hug him when he puts his hands on my shoulders. Don't stop my hugs!

"No hugs for Cat?" I ask sadly. I love hugs!

Beck frowns. "Not yet," he retorts. "I want to know why you didn't tell anyone you moved, Cat."

I pout and cross my arms. "Don't wanna," I say.

Beck softly rubs my shoulders. "Please tell me what happened, Cat," he pleads gently. "I'm not gonna get upset with you. I just want to know what happened…"

I shake my head and look down. "There's nothing to say," I lie. I don't like lying, but sometimes I have to. "My mommy lost her job and my daddy went to find her a new one. We're just waiting for him in a small house outside LA."

Beck rubs my arms gently, moving his thumbs in circles on them. "It's okay, Cat," he breathes. "Everything's gonna be fine. I'm not mad at you. But I want to help you." He pauses for a tiny bit and looks away from me like he's scared. But why would Beck be scared? He's never scared!

He slowly turns his head back to me. "I can't let you stay there anymore."

"But I have to stay there!" I exclaim, shooting up from the bed. I almost fall over because my leg with the sprint hurts really bad, but I ignore the pain. "My family's there and my daddy's gonna come back for us! If I'm not there he won't come get me!" Beck hops off the bed and reaches out to grab my hand, but I snatch it away from him. He's being really mean now!

"Cat, please," he begs. "It isn't safe for you to live outside of LA. I want to protect you because you're my friend; I can't do that if you live so far away. I want you to stay here…"

"No!" I scream. "I need to help my family!"

Beck reaches out for me again but I turn away from him and pull the RV door open. "Cat, come back!" he calls after me. But I can't stay here! If I do, I won't be able to help Mommy, Vince, Tony, and Bristol keep our house. They'll be on the streets while I'm with Beck and Daddy won't be able to find them when he comes back for all of us. He'll think something bad happened and we'll never be a big family again!

Beck continues to call after me but I run as fast as I can away from him. It's not too far of a walk and I can get there really fast if I run. I keep running and running and everything flies around me in a blur. It's really quiet out today and all I can hear is the sound of my feet slapping on the sidewalk. It hurts really bad because the sidewalk's really hot and my leg still really hurts from the splint but I can't stop running. If I do that, Beck might be able to catch me if he's chasing me and he won't let me go back home.

I can't trust him anymore…

While I'm running, I hear someone call my name. It doesn't sound like Beck, no, it sounds like…

Tori comes running over the street to see me! "Cat, what are you doing running without your shoes?" she asks. She looks down then back up at me. "What happened to your leg?"

I frown and cross my arms. "I got pushed into a window," I answer.

Tori gasps. "Oh, my gosh!" she exclaims. "Are you okay? Why are you out here?"

I sigh and look away. I don't wanna tell Tori about my house, but I don't wanna lie to her either!

"I'm fine," I lie. I really hate lying… "My brother tried to do a backflip and he kicked me into one of the windows. He was at the hospital too but then he forgot about me."

Tori hugs me tightly. "Do you want me to call my dad so he can take you home?" she offers worriedly after she lets me go. I wish she wouldn't do that!

"No, I'm good," I tell her. I force a little laugh out. "I love the fresh air anyway!"

Tori frowns and looks at me with really sad eyes. "Do you want me to walk with you?" she questions. "I don't feel right about leaving you out here by yourself."

I fake another laugh. "I'm _fine_," I tell her. "Nothing bad's gonna happen to me. There are a lot of houses here so someone will see if something bad happens to me."

"Cat, wait up!" Beck calls distantly before Tori can say anything else. My body tenses and I almost start running again.

"Look, there's Beck!" Tori announces happily. Yay! Maybe she can keep Beck busy and I can go home without him following me.

"Go talk to him!" I exclaim, pushing Tori closer to him before taking off again. My leg doesn't hurt as much so I can run a little faster now, haha. Tori calls after me, though, and so does Beck. But if I keep going, Beck won't be able to take me away.

Soon their voices stop and I think I finally lost them! I slow down a little and limp down the dirt path to my home. I don't think they followed me…

And when I make it to my room, there's a little note on my bed. Maybe it's from Daddy! Maybe he's coming back home!

When I open the note, I see it isn't from my Daddy…


	14. The Note

**_Hey! It's been a while since I posted...and I've been really busy with college. I think I told you guys that once already in this story. Uh, I think I've gone a different way with this story than I originally planned, but I hope you guys like it. So yeah, here's the next chapter!_**

**_-Skye_**

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**_"Chapter 14 – The Note"_**

_"Red hair girl_

_I sorry about window_

_I want you at kick back with me_

_Forgive me and meet me after school_

_Yellow Eyes"_

His hand writing is really sloppy, like my brother's was after he broke his hand when he broke that sign with a baseball bat. The boy doesn't even know my name, but he wants me to go to the Kickback with him. That's so sweet!

But he's a mean boy. He tried to do bad things to me and he hurt me really bad. What if I go to the Kickback with him and he hurts me again? Maybe he won't since there are a lot of people around, but what if he does? No! If the scary boy hurts me, Beck will try and help me and then he'll take me away from my house!

Why couldn't the letter be from Daddy?

"Cat?" Tony calls from the hall. "Are you home?"

"Yeah," I answer, still staring at the note. What if I go to the Kickback and the boy thinks I'm going with him and he tries to kiss me again? I liked it because it shocked me in a feel-good way, but he might try to do that bad thing Bristol told me not to let guys do…

"What happened to your leg?" Tony shouts, scaring me. I almost forgot about my splint and now he's seen it!

"I…I tripped," I lie. Why can't I stop lying? "My leg got twisted a little but it's gonna be fine."

"Who took you to the hospital Cat?" Tony questions angrily. "Who paid for your hospital bill? You know we don't have the money for that! Is that where you were last night? You're supposed to call when you're not coming home!"

I turn away from him with a small squeak when he starts screaming. I hate when Tony screams! I hate when anyone screams at me.

"Cat, don't cry," he begs in a sad voice. I gasp and wipe at my face; I didn't know I was crying…

Tony walks toward me and walks me to my bed. I quickly shove the little note between my splint and my leg so he won't see it and I won't have to lie again. "Tell me what happened, Cat," he begs in a nice voice. "You were fine yesterday…"

I frown slightly; I have to tell another lie…

"I was working and I slipped on something and fell through the window," I tell him. It's not a full lie, though… "Beck was there and he took me to the hospital and he paid for it because it didn't cost that much. Then I stayed with him last night."

Tony's face falls into a Jade scowl. "Are you sleeping with him?" he asks. He sounds kinda mad though.

I laugh softly. "He slept on the floor and let me sleep on the bed," I tell him, "But I didn't think that was fair so I slept on the floor with him."

Tony's face lightens and he hugs me gently. "Just don't get hurt again okay?"

I nod and smile. "Kay, kay!"

Tony kisses me on the forehead then leaves me by myself in the room. I pull the note from between my splint and look it over again. I have to squint in order to read some of the words because his writing is so silly! Bristol wants to be a teacher; maybe she can teach him how to write better!

My old, old phone beeps—it's a little flip phone I kept after Daddy bought me a PearPhone—and I pull it out of my bra (where I keep my candy!). Yay, it's a text message from Jade! I haven't seen her since she lost her baby. Wait, I saw her in my dream! Does that count?

_Meet me at my house in twenty minutes_

Yay, I get to see Jade again!

I put my phone back in my bra and head down the stairs. Tony's in the kitchen cooking for Mommy who's upstairs asleep. Vince is working and Bristol is still at school. I can always walk to Jade's house; I don't want to bother Tony…

I leave without saying goodbye and make my way to Jade's. Hopefully I won't see Tori or Beck again. I don't want to lie to her anymore and he's being a meanie head! As I walk, I see all the pretty trees and flowers. I wish I could be like them; they always look so happy. I'd be happy too, I guess, if people got to stare at me all day and the sun warmed me up all day!

As soon as I get to Jade's house, she pulls the door open with a scowl. "Took you long enough," she spits. She looks me up and down. "What happened to your leg?"

I look down at my splint, trying to avoid her eyes. "There were some rowdy boys at work and one of them pushed me through a window." I try to keep from laughing at my partial truth; 'rowdy' is a funny sounding word! Rooooooooooooowdy!

"Who did it?" Jade asks loudly. "What did he look like? I'll find him and kill him!"

My head snaps to her. "No!" I beg, "You can't! He didn't mean to…"

Jade rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she mumbles. "Just get in here already."

I quickly limp into her house and Jade closes the door behind me. "I missed you, Jade!" I exclaim after she closes the door. She grumbles back to me that she missed me, too. "How are you feeling?" I ask. "Are you still sad? Please don't be sad…"

Jade sighs. "I'm fine," she tells me. "I'll be at school tomorrow and I'm going to the Kickback."

"Yay!" I shout joyfully as I clap my hands and bounce slightly. That means Jade can protect me if I go and that scary boy is there!

Jade eyes me curiously. "What's got you so happy?"


	15. Telling Jade

**Hi people! I know I haven't updated in a while and I'm sorry. But here's a new chapter and there are more to come soon! Leave a review telling me what you think! I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticism so don't hold back. **

**Until next time,**

**-Skye**

* * *

**_"Chapter 15 – Telling Jade"_**

Should I tell Jade about the mean yellow-eyed boy? We promised never to keep secrets from each other, but what if she tries to kill him? Do I want her to kill him? No, I don't! I…I think I want to get to know him. Maybe he's not mean; maybe he's like Arnold from _Spark Blood_ and is just trying to protect me…from himself. But that's silly. That boy said he's not a vampire…

"Well?" Jade prompts impatiently. "Are you gonna tell me or not?"

I sigh and pull the note from my splint. It's a little crumbled now, but I'm sure Jade will be able to read it. "I met this guy the other day," I start, "He's really weird and he seems mean, but I don't think he really is." I hand her the note. "He gave me this; I think it's kinda sweet."

Jade rolls her eyes and snatches the note from me. Her eyes scan across it quickly and she starts to grimace. She glares up at me before reading the note again. "Is he retarded?" she asked meanly.

I gasp and cover her mouth. "Don't say that word!" I shout. "It's bad…"

Jade rips my hand from her face and throws it to my side. "I don't care," she tells me. "He seems pretty stupid if you ask me. None of these are real _or correct_ sentences. How did he even make it to high school?"

"I think he may be a foreign exchange student," I announce with a wide grin. What if he's from France or Egypt or Australia? Wait, they speak really good English in Australia…

"He might just be really stupid," Jade retorts.

I frown. "You're really mean today…"

"Get used to it."

"So who are you going to the Kickback with?" I ask, changing the subject. I don't like when Jade's mean to me…

"I'm probably going to go by myself," she answers. "I don't _need_ to go with someone. Maybe I'll hang out with Beck for a while when I'm there…if he doesn't have any of those stupid girls hanging on him like he normally does. Maybe I'll see that stu—foreign kid there." She looks at my splint again. "Is he the one that pushed you through the window?"

I don't look at her. I can't say no, because then I'd be lying, but I don't want to say yes either…

"I'll kill him!" Jade shouts.

"No!" I scream. "You're not gonna kill him! I wish everyone would realize that I can take care of myself!"

Jade crosses her arms with a smirk. "Well look who decided to grow a backbone…"

I roll my eyes and spin around so fast that my hair flies around me and smacks me on the side of my face. "If you're gonna be mean to me," I begin as I reach for the doorknob, "Then I'm going home. You know I don't like when you're mean to me."

I pull the door open and start to step outside when Jade grabs my arm. She grabs it really hard, though, and it hurts! I don't let her know that, though. I'm supposed to be mad at her for being mean to me.

"Wait," she begs, "I'm…_sorry_." It sounds like she almost choked on that word. "I'm not trying to be mean to you, Cat," she says. "I'm just…I don't know what's going on. I haven't really felt like myself lately. And I'm not happy about this guy you're talking about."

I turn around and cross my arms, forcing Jade to let me go. "It's not about you though, Jade," I sniped. "I may not look like it, but I can handle myself. I'll handle him." I shouldn't rely on Jade—or even Beck—to protect me all the time; I shouldn't always rely on my family either. One day, all of them won't be there; one day I'll be on my own. What am I gonna do then?

"Are you going to go see him?" Jade asks, crossing her own arms and slouching.

I gulp slightly, knowing she's not going to like my answer. "I don't know if I want to," I confess, "But I think I will…" If I don't, he'll probably come to my house again. What if he does and Tony sees him? What if Bristol is home, or Vince? He might be angry that I didn't show up and he might want to hurt me…but I won't be there because I might still be at Jade's house and he'll probably hurt one of them. I can't let my family get hurt because of me…

"If you want to see him," Jade starts, "I'll drive you. You shouldn't be walking too much with that splint."

I sigh and hold myself. "Okay," I cave. I really don't want Jade coming with me; I just can't stop worrying that the boy will get mad at me again. "But don't say anything to him."

"No promises," Jade spits.

**_~*And away we go!*~_**

By the time I got to Jade's house, it was already 2:30. I missed a whole day of school! I don't like missing school!

Jade made me promise to let her take me to see the yellow-eyed boy and wouldn't let me see him without her. She also said she would drive me home because she didn't want me walking there with my leg in its splint, but I'm gonna have to let her take me to my old house so she doesn't start worrying about me. She'll act like Beck and try to take me away from my family! My daddy will never find me if they take me away…

The note didn't tell me where to meet the boy, so we aren't sure where to go. And when we see him standing in front of Hollywood Arts, Jade slams on her brakes. I lurch forward and she grips the steering wheel tighter.

"I'm taking you home," Jade tells me angrily.


End file.
